Abstract: A snow guard includes a strap made from pressed corrosion resistant metal tubing to resist bending. The strap configurations accommodate different types of roof materials. A head of a sufficiently thick corrosion resistant sheet metal is pressed into a shape to resist the load of snow and ice. The head is soldered or welded to the strap to form a rigid joint.

Abstract: A microminiature Stirling cycle engine or cooler is formed utilizing semiconductor, planar processing techniques. Such a Stirling cycle thermomechanical transducer has silicon end plates and an intermediate regenerator. The end plates are formed with diaphragms and backspaces, one end plate forming the expansion end and the opposite end plate forming the compression end, with the regenerator bonded in between. A control circuit apparatus is linked to the diaphragms for controlling the amplitude, phase and frequency of their deflections. The control circuit apparatus is adapted to operate the transducer above 500 Hz and the passages and the workspace, including those within the regenerator, expansion space and compression space, are sufficiently narrow to provide a characteristic Wolmersley number, which is characteristic of the irreversibilities generated by the oscillating flow of the working fluid in the workspace, below substantially 5 at the operating frequency above 500 Hz.

Abstract: A torso, muscle and spine exercise apparatus. A base having upwardly extending tubes into which a handgrippable handle is attached, includes a tiltable, rotatable platform upon which a user stands. The user stands upon the platform and fastens one or more harnesses about his waist or torso. Conventional weight stacks are attached to the harness or harnesses at two or four front points and two or four rear points by a cable and pulley system. Rotation of the user's waist or trunk lifts the weights, causing resistance to rotation. The rotatable platform upon which the user stands can be tilted in any direction to rotate freely about the tilted axis. Exercise of certain portions of the spine may be accomplished by a torso stabilizer belt fastened to the handgrippable handle and extending about the user's chest or waist.

Abstract: A headliner is a laminate of multiple layers. The layers include polyurethane foam, agricultural fibers, a decorative material, and a backing. The agricultural fiber is jute, sisal, or kenaf or mixtures thereof. The method of making the headliner laminate includes making the sheet of agricultural fibers incorporating a binder, saturating a foam layer with an adhesive, putting one sheet of agricultural fibers on each side of the foam layer, applying the decorative material and backing to one side each, and squeezing the layers together to distribute the adhesive to all the layers and laminate them.

Abstract: A bristle strip includes a channel, a mat, staples and nails. The mat is made of a plurality of bristles. The staples penetrate the channel and the mat and one staple is placed within one-half inch of each end of the channel to retain the bristles therein. The nails are inserted in each end of the channel to further ensure retention of the bristles.

Abstract: An elongated tube has a high pressure feed line on one end and an impact head on the other end. A tube intermediate the ends of the tool houses two cylinders having one piston is in each cylinder. The two pistons are tied together by a piston rod extending through a bulkhead dividing the two coaxially aligned cylinders.

Abstract: A stepped golf club shaft with cylindrical segments joined by conical bands. The shaft is a composite with longitudinal and helical reinforcing fibers. The majority of the longitudinal fibers are located within the inner half of the shaft sidewall thickness, and the helical fibers are located within the outer half. A cutting tool is inserted into the bore of the hollow shaft and severs some of the longitudinal fibers to reduce the shaft stiffness, and therefore the natural frequency of oscillation, of the shaft.

Abstract: A drive shaft vibration dampener having an outer cylindrical housing which attaches to the end of the drive shaft. An inertia disc mounts within the housing, mounting to the housing through a spherical bearing which permits rotational and radial displacement of the inertia disc relative to the housing. A cover plate encloses the internal chamber housing the inertia disc, and the internal chamber is filled with elastomeric urethane. As the drive shaft deflects radially, the inertia disc lags behind, compressing the urethane and exerting a counteracting radial force on the housing, and the rigidly attached drive shaft.

Abstract: A candle and method of making the candle. The candle includes a core surrounded by a combustible material and a fill composition. The combustible material surrounds the lower part of the core up to a selected level. A wick extends downwardly from the top of the core. The lower end of the wick extends no further than substantially the selected level. In this way, the risk of the combustible material catching fire is reduced.

Abstract: A silencer and method of making are described. A tube is wrapped with a layer of texturized fiber yarn. A septum is then overlaid. Other layers of fiber and septums may also be added. Once rolling is completed, the roll is placed in a canister with end caps.

Abstract: A fingerprint identification system from a gray scale image of the fingerprint includes the steps of converting fingerprint image into a digitized gray scale image, enhancing gray scale to provide uniform contrast over entire fingerprint image, down-sampling the contrast enhanced image to limit the number of pixels analyzed, generating a gradient map of the fingerprint image, defining a calculation kernel over which ridge angle determination is made by reference to gradient map, causing the calculation kernel to traverse over gradient map in a predetermined increment over pixels comprising the fingerprint image, smoothing the ridge angle map using the process of Fourier filtering, and smoothing the image quality map using the process of erosion and dilation. The ridge angle map and image quality maps are recorded.

Abstract: A food tray delivery system is provided having a carrying tray, preferably two food trays, and preferably two lids. The carrying tray has a base and a generally upwardly extending sidewall, with the base having an upper surface and a lower surface. The carrying tray is adapted to carry the two food trays. Preferably each food tray has three food retention areas, with each food retention area having a food retention area upper surface and a generally upwardly extending sidewall, with adjacent food retention areas separated by a transverse sidewall. Each transverse sidewall extends between opposing sidewall surfaces of the food tray. Each food tray also has a bottom surface having downwardly depending ribs adapted to cooperate with a lid to permit stacking. Each lid preferably has a recessed area, as well as being adapted to cooperatively fit together with a food tray.

Abstract: An elongated tube has a high pressure feed line on one end and an impact head on the other end. A tube intermediate the ends of the tool houses two cylinders having one piston is in each cylinder. The two pistons are tied together by a piston rod extending through a bulkhead dividing the two coaxially aligned cylinders.

Abstract: Offgas recycling processes, including an argon degassing embodiment which cyclically regenerates one treatment flow path while the other treatment flow path is treating the offgas. The system is changed into a second mode to regenerate the previously treating portion of the system while the offgas is being treated by the previously regenerated treatment device. A second embodiment oxidizes a copper chloride bed to release chlorine, which is injected into the melt. The offgas contains chlorine and HCl, which react with a second bed, containing oxides of copper, forming copper chloride. Water vapor and nitrogen are exhausted to the environment. Before the beds are fully reacted, the flow of gas through the beds is reversed, oxidizing the CuCl bed and reducing the copper oxides.

Abstract: A method for manufacturing a shaped panel from a continuous length of an expanded mat. The method includes transporting an expanded mat on a conveyor. The conveyor includes side chains and a plurality of spaced apart slats, which extend transversely between the side chains, on which the expanded mat is supported. The side chains and the plurality of slats define a plurality of openings in the conveyor. A length of the expanded mat is confined and shaped between a male mold and a female mold by moving the male mold and the female mold into mating relationship through one of the plurality of openings in the conveyor.

Abstract: Concentric conduits are supplied for the purpose of minimizing heat transfer from within the inner conduit through the outer conduit. The air gap or annulus around the inner conduit is filled with a resin mixture which is mixed with vermiculite and mineral fiber to form a slurry. The slurry is pumped into an open end of the annulus to fill the annulus and enhance the heat insulation characteristics of the concentric conduits.

Abstract: An improved rotary valve having a gas bearing which prevents contact between the rotating piston and the cylindrical housing. The same working gas which the rotary valve controls is accumulated in an accumulation chamber. Fluid flow passageways, having a fixed flow resistance along their length, connect the accumulator chamber with a plurality of cavities formed on the cylinder wall of the housing. Pressurized gas is thereby pumped into the clearance gap between the piston wall and the cylinder wall, increasing in pressure where the piston wall comes closer to the cylinder wall, and decreasing in pressure where the clearance gap increases. The net effect is a centering force applied to the piston whenever it varies from an equilibrium position.

Abstract: Endogenous and exogenous proteins, and fragments thereof, are chemically modified outside the body of an animal so that when injected into the animal they produce more antibodies against the unmodified protein than would injection of the unmodified protein or fragment alone. The chemical modification may be accomplished by attaching the proteins or fragments to carriers such as, for example, bacterial toxoids. The chemical modification can also be accomplished by polymerization of protein fragments. Proteins which can be modified include Follicle Stimulating Hormone and Human Chorionic Gonadotropin. The modified polypeptides may be administered to animals for the purpose of contraception, abortion or treatment of hormone-related disease states and disease disorders, treatment of hormone-associated carcinomas, and to boost the animals resistance to exogenous proteins, for example viral proteins.